Perseverence

"You've got to say, I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it. It's called perseverance." -- Lee Iacoca

Day 158 AS

Tuesday marked the 5 month anniversary of my gastric bypass. It was also support group so I weighed in and did the whole body fat analysis thing. I'm now officially down 163 pounds from my high weight last April, 60 pre-op and 103 post-op. Truly amazing. While I know the first of a couple of plateaus can come any day now, I'm still running at an average of a 4 pound weight loss per week.

As for BMI, I now no longer fit the criteria for the procedure -- I've moved out of the morbidly obese category into about the middle of the obese category for my height. I am hoping I can lose about 50 more pounds moving be to the overweight category... my goal has never been to become svelte, just comfortable and healthy. I'm getting there it seems!! Next week I go in for the next round of blood work and the week after see my surgeon -- I can't wait!

I've almost down another size in clothing -- I bought some pants in a lower size on a great sale so they'd be ready to wear in another month or so and wore them yesterday. And it's grand to buy panties in a package with multiple pairs for less than $20 when I'm used to paying more than that for a single pair. I look at some of the new bargain clothes I've purchased hanging on hangers and think I can't fit in that... and I do. It's really, really a surreal experience.

I still can't tolerate more than a wee bit of fat in my diet, but I suppose that's not such a bad thing. I'm not a vegetarian by any means, but all of the food I'm enjoying the most is leaning in that direction -- I still don't like any meats or poultry much and love tofu. I had a great salad for dinner last night (thanks to Robin for recommending Panera!!) with salmon in it. John had the rest of it for lunch today. :) Yes, I'm officially a cheap date now -- what can I say? He made a fabulous batch of a very hearty vegetable soup (you know how that stuff grows and grows as you keep adding different vegies to it? one of those!). Tonight he's making a batch of baby bok choi, mushroom and tofu soup -- yum yum.

The good news is I CAN tolerate a little sugar. Those of you that have not already heard this and who know me well will laugh when you read this: I can eat a chocolate chunk cookie now -- over 5 days that is! Too funny. The cool thing is that it's a very, very satisfying experience repeated over 5 days vs. the olden days where it was great for a couple of minutes.

The bad news is that I'm continuing to lose hair. I hate it. I avoid looking at my scalp when my hair's wet as best I can (it is a challenge to miss it). I'm spending a few extra minutes in the morning fluffing and spraying after using hair thickening products to try to keep it from being publicly noticeable. I'll be glad when this hair growing cycle ends and it starts to come back! Hopefully it will come back with even more of a wave in it than when I lost so much hair with the ovarian tumor I had 12 years ago.

On the job front still no major nibbles for John, but some interest is out there for his skills which is a very good thing. I'm a little embarrassed by the candidate experience he's gone through with my own company, but let's not go into that... hopefully future candidates will benefit from the feedback I've shared internally.

That social challenge I mentioned in my last post is still out there. I did join John for the last Pompous Twits event since it was at Steve and Elaine's. I had a great time visiting everyone for a little while and then moving off to the living room with Elaine, Carol and later Matthew and April. It was a very enjoyable evening -- particularly not feeling like I had to stay at the dinner table all night like I tried to at the last WAFFLES dinner. I continue to pass on Tasters Guild dinners, but may go next month -- the menu sounds great and one of the appetizer courses sounds like something I can enjoy -- and then spend the following week eating all of the rest! :) I eat about a cup of hearty soups now, and about 1/2-3/4 of a cup of solid food at a sitting.

My job continues to be incredibly frustrating, but I am very grateful to be employed. Every now and then there are glimmers of hope, but then they're dashed to dust. I'm campaigning for a hopeful week next week -- please send positive vibes my way...

Speaking of positive vibes, please send even more and more and more of them to our dear friend Tricia. She is recovering from surgery and we're looking forward to seeing her again very soon.

Next Friday, March 5, is Banish the Balrog day, known to the general public as Dress in Blue Day. Please help raise awareness about colorectal cancer and the importance of screening by wearing blue on national Dress in Blue Day! For all of my age 50+ friends, and for those younger with a family history of this scourge of the Balrog, please, please, please go in for your screening as soon as possible.

Take good care...